Her Secret Untold
by SecretLust
Summary: Love finds away, even when unexpected, of bringing the right people together.  Will they manage to handle the turmoil and hurt caused by others, both past and present? Herm/Ginny Fem slash. Please Review!
1. 1 The Expected Visit

Ginny looked around her room. Everything was in its proper place for once. She rarely made her room this clean, and it in a sure better state than it had been all summer. Sure her mum had been after her to clean it each time, but she'd just shove things under the bed and find other interesting ways to hide her mess to keep her mum off her back. _Why was I so messy this summer?_ She thought to herself

Hermione would be arriving tomorrow morning so she had actually bothered to clean right this time so that she would have some space to sleep.

Ginny took one last glance for something out of place before finally laying down in her bed for the night. She slept just as restless as usual, taking hours to fall asleep and tossing and turning all night. When she woke up she found herself wondering how Hermione would be able to stand sleeping in a bed with her for the next two weeks before Hogwarts started up for the new year.

Ginny finally decided that she should probably get ready before Hermione arrived. It'd be one of the few times she'd been out of her PJs all summer.

She made her way downstairs and gave her mum a weak smile before grabbing a piece of toast and sitting down to eat. She had only finished a few bites when she heard a crack outside and turned to find her father walking Hermione to the door. He had went to her home and side along apparated her back to the Burrow.

Ginny couldn't help but smile a little at the site of Hermione. She had always found herself admiring the older witch, brilliant and brave, and patient enough to put up with harry and especially her brother's slower moments. She was glad she'd get to hang out with her a little before school, even if most of her time would be spent with Harry and Ron.

"Hey Hermione"

"Hi Ginny! How's your summer been?"

"alright, yours?"

"alright"

Molly chimed in "Hermione dear, so good to see you."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley, are you sure you don't mind? I really could have went to Kings Cross on my own"

"It's no problem dear, if your parents are going out of town, you shouldn't have to be alone for two weeks, let alone worry about traveling by yourself"

"Well thank you. My parents said to pass along their thanks as well, they said it took a load off their mind knowing I wouldn't be alone the whole time. They would have taken me with them on vacation, but the cruise lasts a month and I wouldn't have been back in time. And it would have been dangerous for me to disappear in the middle of the cruise. Can you imagine if the ship anchored into port with one less passenger than when it left? They'd think I up and fell overboard"

"Well I don't know much about ships, but I'm sure it wouldn't be good if they thought you had died"

"Now tell me, what is an anchor?" Author asked.

"Oh.. um." Hermione struggled to come up with an answer but was saved by Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh Author, the girl's been here 5 minutes and you are already harassing her about muggle contraptions, give her at least a day to settle"

"Sorry Dear"

Ginny stifled her giggle.

"Help yourself to some breakfast" Mrs. Weasley offered.

"Thank you, where's Ron and Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Oh they're here, probably just still asleep. I'll just go wake them up"

Author had moved Hermione's belongings to Ginny's. Long before Harry and Ron made it down to breakfast, Ginny led Hermione to her room to help her unpack.

"So honestly Ginny, how's your summer been?"

"I told you alright. Why?"

"Ginny,.." she paused, motioning for her to sit on the bed.

Ginny hesitated before finally going Hermione on the magically extended bed.

"Harry told me that you have barely left your room except for meal time since he's been here, and I'd wager it's been that way all summer. "

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I've been in here a lot, does it matter?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm fine Hermione" Ginny said a little more stern than she meant to.

"Ok" Hermione could tell Ginny wasn't really ok, but she could tell she wasn't ready to talk about what was bothering her. But Hermione had her suspicions.

When Hermione's stuff was unpacked, they made their way downstairs to see if the boys had finished breakfast yet. They were greeted by the sound of Ron and Harry arguing about something to do with quiditch.

Hermione laughed to herself for a minute before finally interrupting "Ahem".

"Hermione!" Harry grinned. When did you get here?

"A while ago, while you two lazy bums were still in bed"

Ron looked affronted but made no argument, only cause he was too busy stuffing his face to bother to argue.

"Hey Hermione, you want to come play some quiditch with us this afternoon?" Harry asked hopefully.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness. "Come on Harry, you know 'm no food. Why ask?"

"Hey, thought it couldn't hurt to try. We'd enjoy having another player, then you and Ginny could both play and we'd have enough to play 3 on 3 with Fred and George."

"Well I don't think they'll be playing much today either. Heard what sounded like some experiments from their room as we came down"

Hermione looked at Ginny, noticing she hadn't even spoken since they came downstairs but remained silent.

"Those Gits. Man, well all the more reason for you to play." Ron finally chimed in.

"No Ron come on now leave me be about it. I need to study"

"School isn't for two weeks. You can't have homework already, so why are you studying?

"Cause I want to Ronald. It wouldn't hurt you to try it once in a while." And with that Hermione headed out the door and made her way through the yard, presumably going for a walk. Ginny followed wanting to make sure that Hermione was ok, she had hardly ever heard Hermione snap like that before.

When they reached the lake, Hermione realized Ginny had followed her but she was glad for the company. She came to a stop staring out the lake, waiting for Ginny to catch up and realize she had stopped.  
>"Hi Ginny"<p>

"hey… I can leave you alone if you want"

"No. it's fine… I could use the company. I'm sorry I snapped like that at him but I get so sick of them ragging on me. They have hardly wrote me all summer, what would one expect me to preoccupy myself with? I can't perform magic underage so I can't just visit the only friends I have anytime I feel like it"

Ginny couldn't help but feel shocked. She not only had never heard Hermione open up like this, but she also felt really sad to hear that Hermione's only friends were in the magic world, but she realized it made sense with the way she had talked about her childhood and the differences between her and her former schoolmates now.

"I just get so sick of it"

Ginny heard Hermione's voice catch on the last statement. She walked up to Hermione and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, you know I consider you a friend to, or at least I would hope we can be friends. And you know I'm much better company for a chat than the boys."

Hermione felt a tear fall down her face. She turned and hugged Ginny. "I know. I should have wrote you or something. I never thought about you being cooped up around here with only the boys for comfort."

"Well, I don't think it would have mattered if they were here or not, I've pretty much kept to myself." Ginny felt a strange realization hit her as she spoke. It was the first time she had consciously realized she had been keeping to herself so long. Only Hermione seemed to draw Ginny a small step out of her slump.

Hermione straightened up. Ginny… please talk to me, if it wasn't the boys company that revolted you, then there has to be a reason that you've kept to yourself. Ginny, don't deny anything. I know you've hardly left your room at all for the entire summer. You hadn't even tidied up properly until you knew I was coming over." Before Ginny could question how she knew this, Hermione already answered. "Harry had mentioned it in his last letter and even Ron mentioned it in the one he sent me about midway through summer."

Ginny just looked at Hermione for a second, then finally began to walk slowly toward the small dock at the lake. She motioned Hermione to follow her. Ginny remained silent while walked to the end, sat down and put her feet in the water.

Hermione questioned for only a second before following suit.

"This used to be one of my favorite things to do every summer. I loved coming out her by the lake and enjoying the sun. Usually we would all come out and swim during the morning and then mum would have lunch ready before she called us back. I loved it… and I don't really know how to describe why I didn't come out any with the boys, or even on my own all summer.

Hermione laid her hand over Ginny's on the dock encouraging her to continue.

"I have just felt really drained. Like I would wake up, and pick out a book, and lay and read it for the entire day without so much as taking a shower if mum wouldn't make me every other day. Of course I'd eat, but only when my stomach reminded me. Half the time I ignored mum's first call to meals only trickling down 10 or so minutes later to finally eat. At first they would wait, but they eventually got used to it and would stop trying to call me down a second time and stopped waiting on me to eat.

"They love you Ginny, they've been worried"

"Oh don't get me wrong. I take no offense to their not waiting on me and getting used to me being indifferent about food. I'm not mad at them at all. I'm only mad at myself. I hated doing it. And it felt like I was sitting inside my body screaming to do something, but not able to actually send the right nerve signals to make myself move off my lazy bum.

Hermione sat waiting patiently for the whole story, stroking the back of Ginny's hand with her thumb as she talked.

"So yeah, that's pretty much been my summer. I've been a complete lazy bum without trying to be." Ginny said as she pulled her hand up and brushed her air out of her face to make it seem like she had a reason for pulling it back out of Hermione's.

Hermione was taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor. She sighed.

"Ginny… I get not being able to do anything, but why did this all start?"

It was Ginny's turn to sigh. "I don't know Hermione"

Hermione thought carefully for a moment, especially wondering how to word her theory. "Did you being so upset have anything to do with what happened at school last year? "

There was an odd silence before Hermione saw tears slowly form and fall down Ginny's face. Hermione barely heard her whisper before Ginny's tear turned into near sobs as she tried to control her breathing. "yeah…"

Hermione went to try to put her arm around Ginny as comfort but was quickly shrugged off. "Don't"

"Ginny…. I'm here for you and I know it's hard but I think you need to talk about it…"

"I CAN'T!" "Don't you get it!" Ginny back away from Hermione.

"Ok… it's ok Ginny. You don't have to talk about it. I won't make you." She could see Ginny physically relax a bit at her last statement. Ginny was standing a few feet away at this point, and began to stare out over the lake obviously running through events in her heard. Hermione slowly approached her.

"Ginny…. It's ok ."

After a pause, Ginny looked back at Hermione. "No… it's not…"

Hermione offered her open arms, gently reaching out and pulling Ginny into them. This time Ginny didn't fight the contact but welcomed the comforting embrace. Ginny practically collapsed into Hermione, and although she was more controlled, Hermione could feel tears soaking into her shirt. She gently guided Ginny to sit down. Hermione had no idea how long they had been out there until they heard Mrs. Weasley calling that lunch was ready. Ginny slowly removed herself from Hermione and sat up to look at her.

Hermione was first to speak, "You ok? I can bring some sandwiches back out if you want instead?"

"No it's fine. I'll go."

"Ok Ginny. Come here" She pulled Ginny into a tight hug, squeezing her as if it was the last hug she'd ever give her. "It'll be ok Ginny. I promise. I'm here for you"

"I know Hermione… thanks"

They made their way back to the house without speaking another word.

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Please review!


	2. 2 The Eventful Surprise

Authors Note:

Ok, Warning, this is a tough chapter. I wanted to warn the reader that it may be painful to read towards the end, but I wanted to give this story as much depth as I could.

Please review I need motivation to keep working on this one. I have a goal, but I really wanted there to be some emotional turmoil that really built the characters.

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Chapt. 2.

The weekend passed by overly uneventful. Hermione stuck mainly to her books, and was sometimes asleep before Ginny even came to her room. The Weasley children and Harry all spent time practicing quiditch. Everyone even helped in degnoming the garden one day.

It wasn't until the following Monday that circumstances found the two with some time alone together again. Mrs. Weasley put the boys to work cleaning their rooms first, heaven knows they needed it, and then the garden shed, the muggle way as punishment for trying out one of George and Fred's experiments. The concoction turned all four of them purple for a few days before they finally found a remedy.

While Ginny wasn't any more forthcoming about what was bothering her, she had loosened up around Hermione. The two were becoming very close, spending their evenings discussing school and what their plans were for the year. One night, Hermione became determined to have some quality alone time with Ginny that would be special for her and get her out of the house. She worked everything out with Mrs. Weasley and waited until Ginny finished her shower the next morning to spring the news on her.

"I have a surprise for you." She couldn't help but smile as she watched Ginny react.  
>"A Surprise?"<p>

"Yeah, come on, finish getting dressed and meet me downstairs when you are ready."  
>"Ok…"<p>

Ginny walked downstairs to find her mum and Hermione discussing something but they quickly became quiet when she entered the room. "What's this all about?"

"You'll see, tell your mum bye, we won't be back for a while"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. She half heartedly told her mum bye before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Hermione physically began dragging Ginny outside the door.

"Where are we going?"

"That's part of the surprise, for now just enjoy the walk."

She sighed… "Ok…"

After some small talk and an hour walk, Ginny looked up when Hermione stopped. What she saw surprised her more than ever. There in front of her was a much larger lake than the one on their property and to her right in the small clearing, she saw a tent set up with a campfire and some food already roasting over the fire.

"How did you?"

"Your mum apparated here right after we left and set everything up for us. It's a girls night out, just the two of us for the day and night.

"Where are we?"

"We are on the lovegood's property. I asked your mum if there was anywhere around her we could possibly camp for the night that you may not have been and she arranged the whole thing, we have their permission and everything.  
>"Why did you do all of this?"<p>

"Cause I wanted to give you a chance to get out of the house for a while and I enjoy hanging out with you so I wanted to have more alone time where the boys wouldn't be interrupting us."

"What about clothes?"

"I packed us both a bag and had your mum bring them over while you were in the shower"

"You've thought of everything haven't you?"

"Yes, now go get your swimsuit" Hermione grinned wide and pointed to the tent. Ginny couldn't help but smile at the girl's ingenuity. She went to find her suit in the tent.

When she reemerged, she found Hermione already in the lake. _She must have wore her suit under her clothes. Man she thought this through, I wonder what other surprises she has in store._

Hermione found herself admiring the redheads toned body when she came out of the tent. The two piece looked spectacular on her muscular body_. All the days of playing quiditch have treated her well. What am I thinking! _Hermione shook her head. "Come on Ginny, don't make me come get you"

Ginny laughed and dove in off the nearby dock.

Hermione had another moment of admiration as she reemerged form the water glistening in the sunlight.

Ginny swam over to her, "Going to make me come in huh?" She spashed a large amount of water at Hermione.

"Ahh" That's not fair" Stop!" She said with a laugh.

Ginny began to slow down her splashing only to receive a face full of water back. "Hey!," she spat out.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's shoulders to stop her from splashing her again. Hermione stopped laughing after a second and found herself a foot aware from the face of the beauty she had been admiring only moments before. Ginny seemed to have the same wave of seriousness wash over her as they looked at each other, treading water all the while. Hermione reached up and tentatively brushed a piece of hair out Ginny's face. Ginny was the first to learn forward, but Hermione soon followed, each tentatively moving closer until there was no doubt in their mind the other wanted to do the same thing.

Their lips gently touched but it sent an electricity through their bodies. They broke apart only for a second, looking into the others eyes before their lips crashed back together. Each fighting for some dominance, the process of trying to tread water bringing their bodies closer. Hermione slowly pushed Ginny backwards in the water, never breaking the kiss, pushing her backwards until she felt ground beneath her feet. Finding solid ground now under her feet she focused more at the task at hand. Her hand cupped Ginny's face and she slid her tongue out of her mouth, tracing Ginny's bottom lip with her tongue. Ginny complied and opened her mouth. The tongues tentatively touched and a new wave a passion hit them both. After a few moments, they finally broke for air, both panting.

Ginny was first to speak, "Wow…." "that was…."

Hermione finished for her "Amazing?"

"Yeah… that…." Still panting.

Both girls remained silent, staring over the water for what felt like an eternity until Ginny noticed Hermione turn to look at her. When she looked back at Hermione, they both seemed to just develop a huge grin that couldn't be helped.

They simply spent the rest of the evening talking light heartedly not really mentioning the kiss, both still inwardly trying to wrap their heads around what had occurred between them.

Neither really could wrap their head around what just happened so it seemed that they fell into a comfortable casual conversation again instead. When it started turning dark out, Hermione lit them a camp fire they ate the sandwiches Molly packed for them before Hermione introduced Ginny to the muggle tradition of making a smore when camping. Hermione laid out the ingredients and treid to explain the process to Ginny, but soon decided it would be easier to show her. When her marshmellow was toasted, and her small bar of chocolate melted over it, showed Ginny how she placed it between two graham crackers and used them to remove it. She offered Ginny the first one before starting to toast another one. She also explained to Ginny how her favorite secret ingredient to include was peanut butter, before letting Ginny try a bite of this one before she ate the rest.  
>The girls had been having a good time until both found themselves finishing their smores and staring into the fire.<p>

"Ginny, I mainly arranged this trip because I wanted you to have a real chance to relax and have a good time before we headed back to school. But I was also hoping to try to ask you again about what has had you so upset." She could see Ginny tense. "Don't panic, Please just hear me out," she tried to sound soothing. " I won't pressure you into telling me anything more than you are ready to tell, but I can see that this has extremely effected you in ways you probably don't even realize. I just want you to make sure you understand how unhealthy it can be to keep sometime, that's obviously painful , bottled up."

Hermione could tell Ginny was processing what Hermione said, but still looked rather tense about the situation. Then she saw Ginny's shoulders seem to drop in defeat and she hoped that meant Ginny accepted her advice as true.

"I don't know Hermione. I.." a tear streaked down Ginny's face.

Hermione moved to Ginny's side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
>"I really don't know where to start"<p>

"Ok… well, you said I was correct in assuming it had to do with last school year.."

Ginny nodded.

"Then I'm assuming it had something to do with… him… and the diary"

She could see tears streaking down Ginny's face. All she wanted to do was hold the younger girls and simultaneously go seek revenge on the one who hurt her friend so intensely.

Ginny brought herself to nod. "It was him Hermione. When I found the diary, I didn't understand at first." She took a deep breath. "It was as though the diary was simply giving me advice when I mentioned how much I was crushing on Harry. It seemed to genuinely care about what I said about him and prompted questions. Only after I had been writing in the it for a few weeks did he actually explain that he had been a real living person at one point. At first this made me panic, but then I realized, if he was deceased, then it was just as secure as any other diary, and he seemed nice enough that he wouldn't betray my secrets to anyone, so probably even more secure. Of course… then I didn't understand that for the diary to be so smart, it wasn't just some charm to leave an imprint of the persons soul."

Ginny stifled another sob, trying to keep from breaking down as she told Hermione the story.

Hermione gentle squeezed Ginny's shoulder, reassuring her that it was ok.

"After that's when he started controlling me, of course, at the time, I didn't know it was him. I guess I had gave enough of my trust over that I opened myself up to him being able to possess me."

Hermione could tell Ginny's temperament had changed slightly. "Ginny… you couldn't have known. You can't blame yourself."

"can't I? why the hell didn't I know better? Why did I pour my living soul into this inanimate object that I was too dumb to realize was a piece of him." Ginny was balancing on a strange wall of anger and breaking down.

"Ginny. Look at me." When Ginny didn't immediately respond, Hermione gently pulled Ginny's chin so that she faced her. "No one would have known better. It could have been anyone of us. It could have been me. You have to accept that none of it was your fault before you can move on."

Ginny shook her head away and stared back at the fire. "part of me knows that. I'm logical enough to realize that it could have been anyone that he got a hold of. But… but something else happened that no one knows about."

Hermione felt defeated. She could hear the pain in Ginny's voice and could see that she was very close to losing her composure completely.

"Ginny… " Hermione pulled her to look at her again, mustering the most comforting, sympathetic, but strengthening look she could manage and stared into Ginny's eyes searching them to find Ginny's understanding that Hermione was right here no matter what it was. When Ginny saw Hermione's face she felt a small burst of strength. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her friends reaction and mustered up all her strength. "Before Harry found my body in the chamber, when I was still conscious but tom also began to gain a human form, he… he used me…. sexually." And then her strength faded and she began to sob like never before.

Hermione sat in shock for a few seconds before she pulled her composure back together. She cautiously began to guide Ginny into her comforting embrace like the one at the lake. Ginny tensed at her touch at first, but immediately let herself be wrapped in Hermione's arms, and even though she blindly upset, a small part of her felt a wave of feeling protected wash over her as Hermione's arms wrapped around her. Hermione did her best to hold back her own empathetic tears to Ginny's admission.

She let Ginny literally cried herself to sleep in her arms, staying like that until she was almost to numb to move. She gently stirred Ginny enough to guide her inside the tent before zipping it behind them and wrapping an arm around Ginny's waste as they slept.


	3. 3 The Morning After

Author's Note: You totally thought more was going to happen than a kiss didn't you? Come on, what kind of story would it be if their relationship moved that fast. (Of course, to be honest, I did too, wrote it out already, then cut it back out in favor of waiting) If you want a one shot, go read my "NotsoPerfectPrefect" story. I hope I didn't leave you too down after the last chapter. I'm trying to lighten the mood again a bit. Please stick with me as I go, and please review! (I may be a bit slow on updates for a few days until I finish my final exam Monday, guess your luck just depends on how much I procrastinate studying :P)

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Chapt 3.

Hermione wasn't surprised after Ginny's admission that she didn't sleep very restfully. Hermione almost tried to wake her at one particular bad moment of the night, but when she shifted herself to wake her, she felt Ginny snuggle tighter to her and she seemed to relax.

When morning came, Ginny woke with a start as she felt something press into her back, but relaxed when she realized it was Hermione breathing against her back. The night before came flooding back and she felt a little sick to her stomach. She was a bit surprised by how much easier it was to talk to Hermione than anyone else. She had thought she would never tell anyone, but somehow Hermione knew just what to do and say to comfort her enough so that she could tell her everything. As much pain as she felt thinking about the events, she also found herself feeling a bit of warmth filling her heart as she thought about how amazing Hermione had been her comfort last night by just physically being there. She gently rolled over and kissed the brunette tenderly on the forehead. She suppressed a happy laugh that welled up in her at the sight of Hermione smiling widely at the gesture and opening her eyes to Ginny. Hermione reached out and brushed Ginny's hair out of her face before a wave of seriousness washed over her. "how are you'" she asked.

Ginny felt her happy moment sink out of existence again. "I'm ok, I'm sorry if you didn't get much sleep on account of me."

"Don't be silly. I slept fine for the most part." She tried to grin to reassure Ginny but a yawn fought its way out in the process which contorted her face into a funny shape. Ginny laughed, " you're a terrible liar."  
>Hermione couldn't help but laugh a little with Ginny. "Damn my body's inability to listen to what my brain is trying to say."<br>Both girls laughed.

"I'm proud of you, you know?" Hermione said questioningly.

"What do you mean?" She didn't know what in the world Hermione could be talking about.

"It took a lot of courage to tell me that last night. I'm just glad you were able to." She leaned forward and kissed Ginny's forehead this time.

"To be honest, I never thought I would be able to tell anyone. I mean, after everything happened, and I felt the life literally draining out of me, it seemed irrelevant at the time in a way. Does that make any sense?" Ginny looked at her hopefully.

"Yes, it does. But I wish you would have told someone then. But I know we weren't as close as we are now, and I realize it would be super hard to tell anyone, even your mother."

Ginny remained silent so Hermione just enjoyed the physically close moment. She knew it was time to change the subject to a lighter note. "You're so beautiful" and she kissed Ginny's forehead again.

Ginny felt her face become flush with embarrassment. "So are you," she said as she met Hermione's eyes, the shared an unspoken agreement before both slowly leaning in for another kiss. It was very gentle at first, but soon deepened with their passion for each other. Hands were on their verge of roaming bodies when they finally broke apart. Ginny opened her eyes to find Hermione looking into them. "slow?" Ginny questioned. Hermione nodded. And Ginny nodded her agreement back.  
>"I just, I don't want to rush this. What are we even? Are you ok with this? I mean… I thought you liked Harry."<p>

"I don't know Hermione. I did… I thought… but then, there's something about you that has always made my entire self light up with excitement. I would prefer a relationship with you." She said the last sentence rather timidly, finally bringing herself to look at Hermione for a response when Hermione was quiet.

Hermione couldn't help but grin at Ginny's confession, which made Ginny immediately find herself smiling back at the her. Their grin turned into a bit of a laugh as they both reveled in their happy moment.  
>"So, does that mean I can call you my girlfriend?" Hermione asked.<br>She laughed a bit more when she saw Ginny's face light up with excitement.

Before Hermione could react, Ginny was kissing her again, abandoning the tenderness for excitement, but Hermione didn't mind much, she found the excitement to be a bit arousing. She finally broke the kiss, looking at Ginny happily. "I hate to say this, but we honestly need to be heading back to the house for breakfast. I don't have anything out here and your mother would come looking soon if we don't show up. I don't think you want to her to find out about us like this do you?" Hermione asked with a bit of amusement as Ginny blushed.

Ginny nodded before standing and Helping Hermione back up. She placed a quick kiss on her before beginning to roll up her sleeping bag. "You can change first, I'll go clean up our site" and with that Ginny left Hermione in the tent.

Soon the girls had everything in a nice pile and began their walk back to the burrow. They carried their own bags, leaving just the bulky sleeping bags and tent for molly to collect later. Neither of the girls noticed Molly's happy expression when she saw the girls walking back to the burrow talking and laughing. When the girls sat down to a late breakfast, she could immediately tell Ginny's whole demeanor had changed. She smiled when Ginny thanked her whole heartedly for breakfast and then left the girls to eat while went and retrieved the camping gear before she went to get ready.

The spent the rest of the day in Diagon Alley getting their school supplies. The four youngest got to adventure off together while Molly went to purchase her household supplies.

The day past quickly, but Hermione and Ginny stole some time alone while the buys went nuts over stuff in the quiditch shop. The girls found their way to a more secluded spot in the shop.  
>"Ginny, I know we decided that we wanted to be in a relationship, but what are we going to tell everyone?"<br>"I don't know… I don't know how they'd react." A look of fear washed over Ginny's face.

"Hey, it's ok, I'm scared too. This is really crazy and unexpected for both of us. We can tell them when we are ready, let's just wait and see what happens." Hermione took Ginny's hands in comfort.

Ginny nodded, "your right. And I want to tell them, but not yet."

"Then we will wait." Hermione smiled reassuringly.

The girls hugged but didn't dare kiss in public, even if they were secluded. This was a wise decision for what they didn't notice was the strange confused look harry gave them as they had passed near the girls to move to another section of the shop. He saw a strange look pass between them as Hermione took Ginny's hands which looked to be comforting. He hoped that Hermione was getting Ginny to open up about whatever had kept her so secluded all summer, even before he had arrived at the burrow.

The next week flew by. Ginny was barely able to draw Hermione away from the boys without them getting suspicious. Hermione had also insiting spending some time studying, and while this typically got her away from the boys, Hermione really did want to study, so Ginny also got ahead with her work a bit, as well as some good quiditch practice with the boys while Hermione studied. The girls had ended up with a sad amount of distance other than a few nights of passionate kissing before bed. Before they knew it, it was the day before their return to Hogwarts.

Hermione had finally excused herself from the boy's presence expressing her wish to spend a little girl time with Ginny before school started and they were too busy.

The girls packed some sandwiches for lunch and went for a walk back to their familiar camping spot. The swam for a while, just enjoying a good time. Before long though, they found themselves in another heated moment of passion in the water. This time, both letting hands roam flesh a bit under the cover of the water. Neither of them seemed to mind until Ginny tensed as Hermione's hands were tracing upwards towards her chest.

Hermione immediately stopped and backed off, searching Ginny's eyes for an explination.

"I'm sorry"

"Hey, it's ok. Come on, let's go sit in the grass and have lunch"

Hermione cautiously reached for Ginny's hand, and when Ginny grasped her hand back, they swam to shore and Ginny Laid out a towel for them to sit on while Hermione grabbed their lunch.

After a few bites of her sandwich, Ginny couldn't help herself and apologized again. "I'm really sorry"

"It's ok. Was it because of what you told me?"

Ginny nodded. "I think…"

"I figured. Look it's fine. We can work through things. I'm here for you and will only do what you are comfortable with. I promise." Hermione was trying her best to reassure her, but she knew the girl would probably eventually need way more discussion and time to heal from what had happened, if not professional help. Now wasn't the time to discuss that though.

Ginny nodded a look up sadness mixed with guilt on her face.

"Let's just forget about it, I told you I wanted to take things slow anyway. Ginny?" Hermione tried to gin her full attention.

When Ginny looked up, Hermione spoke again. "I promise you it's ok." Ginny smiled a sad smile at Hermione's reassurance, leading Hermione to smile in return slightly, then reached out to get a hug from the girl who seemed to care so much about her well being.

The girls shared an embrace, and then ended up with Ginny's head on Hermione's lap while she played with Ginny's hair. Te chatted idly about what the school year would be like. Before they knew it, they had to head back for dinner, and then spent the rest of their evening packing their belongings and spending some last free time with the boys.

Ginny was the first to wake up. Though they typically shared some cuddle time before bed, they had slept in separate beds each night incase Mrs. Weasley chose to look in on them. Ginny rolled over to see if Hermione was still asleep. What she saw brought a smile to her face. The brunette had managed to toss her covers in her sleep and she only had a sheet drawn up to her waste and a spaghetti strap tank-top on. Ginny quietly approached her sleeping companion and brushed her hair back out of her face before kissing her cheek tenderly. Hermione smiled before she opened her eyes. "Morning beautiful"  
>"Morning already?"<p>

"Yeah. It's already 9, I'm surprised mum hasn't came to wake us up yet."  
>As if on cue, they heard Molly calling their names approaching the door.<br>"were awake mum!"

"Hurry up and come down for breakfast!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and Hermione giggled.

They after a breakfast, they all ended up bustling around the house getting their belongings together. When an impressive amount of both people and belongings were crammed into the living room, they traveled by floo to Diagon Alley before heading to platform 9 ¾.

Hermione was a bit sad that her parents weren't there to see her off, but she was thankful for Mrs. Weasley's apparent sincerity in all of her goodbyes.

Right when the Mrs. Weasley was hugging the twins, the whistle blew and everyone hurried off to the train.

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P.S. Author's note: Also, I apologize for not following along with the book. I plan to soon, hopefully, but when I first started, I was absentmindedly forgetting this was the summer where Harry ended up at the leaky cauldron before school. Either I'll go back and edit it sometime so he's not there, or just bare with me until school starts and I'll get back on track. PLEASE REVIEW! Pretty, Pretty Please? Maybe I'll even get another chapter up before Monday, I know this one was kind of slow, just didn't seem right saying, and then, it was the train. It'll pick back up.


	4. 4 A Restless Night

Author's Note: Ok, so doing a bad job of studying, but much happier with this chapter than the last. I apologize again for the last one, it was obviously forced and I regret my approach to the time lapse.

ALSO! PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I have only had one review so far and I would like to know what the rest of your thoughts are.

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Chapt. 4: 

Ginny was having trouble focusing on what Dumbledore was saying.

After the train ride, she felt terrified. Her only comfort had been seeing Hermione emerge from the crowd. All she wanted to do was run and hug Hermione, but she knew she couldn't without arousing some suspicion. Harry and Ron followed behind her and the four of them had sat together at the table.

She heard Dumbledore say explain that the dementors were there to stay, which made her feel very uneasy. She could tell that her friends, as well as the rest of the school seemed to be very uneasy at this news. Before she knew it, they everyone was shuffling around, obviously leaving for their respective common rooms. She followed suit quickly catching up to Hermione, though she noticed Harry and Ron were talking in hushed tones to Hermione, so she forced herself to hang back until they reached the common room. When they entered, the four of them found a seat near the fire chatted about what Dumbledore had told them as well as other new term stuff.

While she hadn't met him, this new professor sounded interesting to her. Although she knew she shouldn't laugh about it, Ginny found herself amused at the idea of a teacher giving out chocolate to help people feel better and found she wanted to plan out ideas for obtaining some for herself. She mentally shook her head and returned to the conversation in time to hear Ron excuse himself saying that he was tired, though Ginny suspected that his full stomach had caused his sleepiness. Then Harry followed suit saying he should unpack a bit before the guys all were asleep.

Ginny was hoping Hermione would stay with her and was extremely happy when Hermione turned to her and smiled. It wasn't until then that Ginny realized the common room was now empty. "Alone at last"

Ginny smiled back at Hermione. "I missed you today. I was about to come try to find you when the whole dementor thing happened and then the prefects were encouraging us to stay put until we arrived at Hogwarts. "

"I missed you too. I would have came to see you if Harry hadn't passed out like that. He scared us like hell, and he said he heard someone screaming, but no one else heard it. It was just scary. "

Ginny nodded in understanding. She opened her arms and gave Hermione a look. Hermione realized Ginny was opening her arms to her this time and gladly accepted, crawling up and curling tightly against Ginny as she reclined against the cushion against the arm of the couch. Ginny stroked her hand through Hermione's hair as they laid there content in each other's warmth. It wasn't until Hermione yawned that Ginny finally shifted until Hermione sat up. "We should go to bed love, can't have Hermione Granger falling asleep in class on her first day now can we?"

She was Happy to hear Hermione laugh at her teasing. Hermione joked back, "You and I both know I'd hardly miss a thing if I slept the whole day away, except for maybe with the new Defense professor.

Ginny laughed and threw up her hands in defeat. "Touché"  
>Both girls laughed before finally looking into each other's eyes. Ginny gave Hermione a small, tender kiss before finally walking to the stairs, hearing Hermione follow along behind her.<p>

Ginny crept into her room and silently made her way into bed. She drew the curtains closed and striped down to her bra and underwear before crawling into bed. She knew it was going to be a long night as she could hardly dream of going to bed then.

What she hadn't told Hermione was that she came very close to fainting herself on the train. When the dementors had boarded, she begin hearing Tom Riddle's voice echoing through her mind. She even heard him calling her the names she had never been called until that dreadful night.

Ginny felt tears silently streaking down the sides of her face as she recalled the events on the train, and in turn the events of that dreadful night so many months ago. Eventually, Ginny fell into an uneasy sleep. She found herself walking through the chamber of secrets without intending to. She was conscious of the fact that she shouldn't be there, but her feet just kept moving forward. Then she saw the form of a teenage boy grinning at her when she entered the camber. She knew she should turn around and run away, but her feet kept carrying her forward towards him. Ginny tried to say something but her voice didn't make a sound. She didn't know why, but she knew everything about this place seemed evil to her and she began screaming, hoping that somehow if she screamed enough that she would free her body from this trance it seemed to be in. Then she felt him grab her shoulder and she screamed more, trying to shake him off, and she felt her body react, but then seem stiff again, his hand back on her shoulder. She could hear him laughing, and then she heard him say her name. She heard her name being said a second time, but this time it didn't sound like him, it sounded like a.. girl…

She opened her eyes and bolted upright. Blinking and staring around. She soon realized she was in her dorm room. She could see the moon and then she realized there was a silhouette against the window and she realized the girls in her room were all standing around her bed. "ugh"

"Are you Ok Ginny? You were screaming like crazy."  
>"Yeah, I'm ok, just a really bad dream."<p>

She could see the girls exchange worried looks in the dark.  
>"Why were you screaming no in a dream?"<p>

"I don't know, I just remember it wasn't pleasant, I don't remember the details," Ginny lied.

One of the girls spoke up first, "Ok, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I woke you guys"  
>"It's ok, just try to get some rest"<p>

"I will"

The girls made their way back to their respective beds and drew their curtains again.  
>Ginny laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling in disbelief of everything. She was so frustrated with what just happened. She recalled the past few weeks in a lbur and realized she hadn't had a nightmare since Hermione had started staying with her, except maybe the night she told her. She remembered recalling later in the day that it seemed a little fresh in her memory again. She finally let her frustration get the best of her and got up, pulled her clothes on and quietly headed to the common room. She curled up on the sofa and stared into the fire trying to forget about her recent nightmare. She knew she could only blame the dementors and how they made her relive the whole moment again today for the nightmare tonight. After what seemed like an eternity, she felt her eyes get heavy and finally ell asleep again.<p>

Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder. "Ginny, wake up"

Ginny groggily rolled over and slowly opened her eyes to find a concerned Hermione looking at her with her hand on her shoulder. "hey…"

"why are you already dressed and out here asleep Ginny?"

"I woke up early, didn't think I was going to fall back asleep, but I guess I was wrong huh?" Ginny grinned trying to encourage Hermione to believe her lie.

Hermione wasn't fooled, but realized the common room already had some other people in it and didn't want to press the subject any further so she nodded and playfully answered, "What was your first clue?"

Ginny laughed at her and sat up. "Let's go get some breakfast?"

Hermione nodded and grabbed Ginny's hand as she helped her up off the couch and then they headed down to the Great Hall.

When Ginny was almost through her cereal, one of the girls from her year sat beside her. Ginny hoped she wouldn't mention last night but was quickly disappointed.

"Did you ever figure out what that nightmare was about last night Ginny?"

She saw Hermione's attention snap to her with a look of concern.

"No, after I fell back asleep, I could barely remember anything, just you guys waking me up"

"Damn, would have loved to know what had you so upset." And with that she dove into her food, attention turned back to the other girl she had came in with as they struck up conversation.

She nervously looked back at Hermione before she felt like cowering at the look she was receiving. It said everything before Hermione needed to. _Why didn'tyou tell me?What was it about?Is that why you were in the common room asleep?_

Ginny nodded her head towards the door and Hermione nodded in agreement and took one last bite of her food before standing and walking towards the entrance parallel to Ginny on the other side. When they had made it up one floor, Hermione pulled Ginny off the stairs and down the hallway into an empty classroom.

"Spill it" her eyes conveying a sense of power to Ginny that she felt she would be stupid to challenge. She sat on the desk and Hermione sat in a seat in front of her.

"First off, I'm sorry. I don't want to lie to you, I just didn't know what to do"

"Fine, but what happened?"

"I had a nightmare" Ginny looked out the window.

"Well that much I got from your friend, but what was it about?"

Ginny sighed and looked at her hands, absentmindedly cleaning around her nails.

Hermione's demeanor softened a bit and she moved to sit beside Ginny, placing a hand on her shoulder. "please tell me?"

Ginny sighed again. It was about that night…

Hermione understood what Ginny meant and put her arm around her shoulder.

"The girls apparently heard me screaming no in my sleep, even though it felt like I couldn't say anything in my dream, I guess cause I couldn't in reality, I had no voice left in me at the time."

Hermione felt her heart break slightly at that comment. She couldn't imagine how helpless Ginny had to have felt.

"do you dream about it often?"

Ginny looked back out the window. "I used to. I dreamed about it a couple times a week, probably more, though I didn't always wake up from it to remember."

"Do you know if you dreamed about it after you told me?"

"I.. I think… It seemed fresh that morning. I wasn't sure if it was just cause I told you or because I had dreamed again. But then, I didn't dream about it until last night.

"Do you think it was because we came back?"

"No…." That hadn't even crossed Ginny's mind. "No… I think it was because of the dementors."

Ginny found Hermione's confused look somewhat amusing considering it was such a rare face for her.

"I didn't want to ruin our first night back by telling you last night… but when they boarded the train, it was like I was back in the chamber. I could hear him Hermione. I could hear him laughing, and I could hear him call me things… a filthy bitch.. .a .." Ginny's body heaved with a sob. " a slut."

Hermione pulled Ginny into an embrace. "you aren't any of those things Ginny, you hear me? You can't pay any attention to that sort of talk"

She felt Ginny give a small nod for her benefit, though she knew her words had little effect.

She pulled her face up to look her in the eye. "You aren't any of those. And I wish you would have told me yesterday. I know I can't really do much, but I want to be informed, and I want to be for you when I can, even if it's just holding you."

Ginny did seem to genuinely nod this time in understanding so Hermione released her chin and went back to the her recent pose with Ginny in her protective arms.

When Ginny finally seemed to settle down, she pulled back and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. "thanks Hermione"

"Anytime. You know I'm always here for you"

Ginny nodded. "We should get going, don't want to be late on the first day."

Hermione nodded, but pulled Ginny into a tight hug for a minute before finally leading the way from the classroom and back to get their belongings from their room.

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Authors Note:  
>A few sparks of ideas are running through my head after watching the third movie last night.<br>A little taste of what may be to come: Time Turner. I'm not sure where yet, but I think it will come into play.


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